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Ok, so I wanna get net access in my work shed. I'm guessing the two best options are a powerline adapt with wifi, or a wifi extender? Currently the wifi from the house doesn't quite get there. If I have the shed roller door open my laptop can just barely pick it up if it's in the doorway, bit go inside it's gone. The nearest corner of the shed is about 20 to 25mtrs from the router which is obviously inside the house (brick). I could run an extension cord and put a wifi extender up in the very corner of the shed, but I'm not sure if the signal will be good enough.

My other thought is a powerline adapter with wifi. The router is probably 30+mtrs of cable from the meter box, and then the shed is at least 50+mtrs of cable from it. The shed is also on a separate fuse from the house power, and in the shed there is a safety switch plus fuses for power and lights. I don't know if that's too much for a powerline adapt to work through. I do have an Ethernet junction box in our spare room which is a lot closer to the meter box and could put an adapter there and run a cable from the junction box to it.

Just don't know what's gonna be the better solution? An extension cable and wifi extender is probably the cheaper and easier... but how do I know if the signal will be good enough? Xcom, where are you?

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Yeah, I'm kicking myself that I had the electrician's run Ethernet through the house and they left my roll of cable running outside the back wall, and though they ran an electrical line to the shed, they didn't run the Ethernet. But it's a pain to get it there now with retaining walls and gravel driveway etc etc and I just can't be bothered.

I just wanna be able to stream internet Radio into my shed. I can't bare the loyal stations I get any more. The best is river 94.9, but while they play more music I like they still repeat the same old songs ad nauseum. I mean, Big Audio Dynamite weren't that good 20 years ago, but to here them every single bloody week is getting old. I almost hate The Sunnyboys now days, I've heard Alone With You so many times. I steam Apple music stuff sometimes (data free with Telstra). But when we were down the Goldie I remembered how much I lived Rebel FM but they're not planning to come to my region and told me to just steam them from the app. And there must be plenty of other great ones I could find.

So it's really just about streaming internet Radio. Gets lonely in there.

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I have about 16 power points in my shed. I mean a cable from one of them just up to the top corner nearest to the house and have a wifi extender sitting there. Not an extension cord from the house to the shed.

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I have about 16 power points in my shed. I mean a cable from one of them just up to the top corner nearest to the house and have a wifi extender sitting there. Not an extension cord from the house to the shed.

Think Tynos confusion probably due to the fact we didn't think TBar had electricity yet...

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If the shed and router are on the same power phase, and the power-cable run is not stupidly long, then almost any modern powerlink adapters and wifi extenders are a simple Plug&Play options that will work well most of the time. It's pretty reliable stuff these days, but still a bit variable in results. Not as fast as running an Ethernet cable, but probably faster than most WiFi when the range is being tested. And keep in mind that an external twisted-pair cable connected to the network, carries the risk of damaging equipment, even if you use surge-suppressors.

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I'm sure that it's just normal domestic. The router is at the furthest point of the house diagonally from the meter, then it has to get back to the shed whose Line runs back through the roof, down the wall into the ground then over to the shed. It adds up.

Hence I'm unsure which to try.

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If the shed and router are on the same power phase, and the power-cable run is not stupidly long, then almost any modern powerlink adapters and wifi extenders are a simple Plug&Play options that will work well most of the time. It's pretty reliable stuff these days, but still a bit variable in results. Not as fast as running an Ethernet cable, but probably faster than most WiFi when the range is being tested. And keep in mind that an external twisted-pair cable connected to the network, carries the risk of damaging equipment, even if you use surge-suppressors.

do power link adaptors add another layer of encryption ? as that can slow things down a fair bit.

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Nah, I won't regret it! I haven't had net access in there for about 9 years now. But 6 metres from the house wall is a 1.2mtr high concrete block retaining wall down to the shed level, then 3 metres of road base to the shed. No way I'm digging down under that retaining wall (60x60x100cm blocks two high) and then through all the road base. Not just to get other radio stations.

I only regret the sparkies didn't run it with the power at the time.

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I'm sure that it's just normal domestic. The router is at the furthest point of the house diagonally from the meter, then it has to get back to the shed whose Line runs back through the roof, down the wall into the ground then over to the shed. It adds up.

Hence I'm unsure which to try.

AV2 has a theoretically node-node limit of 300m but that's in a laboratory, and there are no guarantees with powerline adapters in the real world, as there are so many variables - noisy mains, cable condition, interference from other equipment on the circuit(s) connecting the shed and router.

However, it's a simple plug&play option and you can always put them on ebay if they don't work - someone will pick them up if cheap enough.

I've had good results with TPLink adapters and recommend them, but most of the AV2 adapters are OK these days. One tip - pay attention to the plug orientation and whether or not you have clearance to plug them in if you have skirting-board outlets. Also, pass-through is really handy, as it's better to have the adapter in the socket rather than on a powerboard extension.

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Nah, I won't regret it! I haven't had net access in there for about 9 years now. But 6 metres from the house wall is a 1.2mtr high concrete block retaining wall down to the shed level, then 3 metres of road base to the shed. No way I'm digging down under that retaining wall (60x60x100cm blocks two high) and then through all the road base. Not just to get other radio stations.

I only regret the sparkies didn't run it with the power at the time.

You need to re-frame the issue. How close is your neighbour's house to your shed?

I was a little luckier in that the work to bury the cable wasn't quite as onerous a task as yours. The buried section was grass and "garden", and had to go under one set of paver steps. Still a job and I had a sparky do it (the difficult bits were inside the house) but it's done now. Some things I just prefer to have done by a pro.

Could you use your mobile phone as a local wifi hotspot? Then it's a matter of the data requirements and your phone plan.

I use my phone all the time this way when travelling with laptop since motel wifis are usually so crap they are not worth bothering with. And I use phone to stream internet radio or music when on long trips.